Apparatus for polishing coated sheet metal



Dec. 19, 1944. A, McARTHUR APPARATUS FOR POLISHING COATED SHEET METALFiled Dec. 50; 1942 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 NW NW nmm Rm @MN RN ww EN QNN @m. E

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APPARATUS FOR POLISHING COATED SHEET METAL Filed Dec. 50, 1942 2Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR Dona/0%. McArf/u/r Patented Dec. 19, 1944 UNITEDAPPARATUS FOR POLISHING COATED SHEET METAL Donald A. McArthur, Warren,Ohio, assignor to The Wean Engineering Company, 1110., Warren, Ohio, acorporation of Ohio Application December 30, 1942, Serial No. 470,669

Claims.

driven to produce a wiping action thereon. The

rolls are made by packing (i. e., stacking) cloth or felt discs on amandrel or shaft and clamping them between fixed and removable abutmentsin the form of collars on the shafts. Branners as previously used werecapable of processing material at speeds of from 50' to 100' per minute.

In recent years, a demand has arisen for branners capable of processingtin plate at speeds as high as 600 or 700' per minute, in order to keeppace with electrolytic tinning lines. In the operation of branners atsuch high speeds,"however, there is a marked tendency for the materialto drift laterally, i. e., to run off either to the right or the left ofthe machine as much as 6", instead of proceeding parallel to the centerline -of the machine, despite the greatest care in entering material inproperly squared and centered relation. While this tendency presents aserious difflcult in the processing of sheets, it is intolerable in theprocessing of strip since the latter becomes fouled on the housings orside frames of the machine in a very short time, if it does not feedstraight and parallel to the longitudinal center line of the machine.Various expedients have been resorted to in attempts to eliminate thislateral drift but have been uniformly unsuccessful.

I have invented an improvement in branners or sheet-polishing apparatuswhich wholly overcomes the aforementioned tendency of the sheets of tinplate to shift sidewise while passing through the machine. According tomy invention, each pair of branner rolls preferably includes a large.soft, cloth roll and a smaller, harder, felt roll cooperating therewith.Certain of the cloth rolls of the several pairs, furthermore, have,their fixed abutments or collars adjacent one side of the machine whilethe. remainder of the soft rolls have their fixed abutments or collarsadjacent the other side of the machine. That is to say, some of the softrolls are packed" oppositely from the others. Preferably, the soft'rollsof adjacent pairs are oppositely packed. For example, the soft roll ofone pair maybe packed from the drive end while the soft rolls of theadjacent pairs are packed from the ends thereof opposite the drive end.The reverse packing of adjacent soft rolls seems to have the effect ofequalizing any lateral thrust which might be exerted on the sheet as aresult of the slight dishing of the edges of the cloth discs. brannerembodying my invention feeds material along a path precisely parallel tothe center line of the machine without deviation, so that coated sheetsand strip, if entered straight and properly centered, are 'discharged inexactly the same manner. There is no measurable lateral drift of thematerial toward either side of the machne. Further details, novelfeatures and advantages of my invention will become apparent in theFigure 5 is a transverse section along the plane of line V-V of Figure4.

Referring now in detail to the drawings, the branner embodying myinvention comprises spaced housings in the form of side plates or framesl0 and II connected by transverse members or spacers l2. The housings I0 and H are provided with wheel boxes I3 at each end and have wheels 14journaled therein adapted to travel along rails i5. I

The housings I 0 and II are adapted to receive the bearings of aplurality of pairs of rolls between which the sheet metal to be polishedpasses successively. Entering rolls l5a and l5b are journaled in thehousings adjacent one end. Additional pairs of rolls lid and llibthrough 24a and 24b engage the material successively and exert a wipingaction thereon. The several pairs of rolls are driven by anyconventional means,

Whatever the explanation, I find that a through the bridge pieces 29.

preferably by flexible spindles from a gear box (not shown). Alternatepairs of rolls are driven at diflerent speeds and the material'travelsbetween the several rolls at a speed which is somewhat of an averagebetween the roll speeds. This produces the desired wiping action. Withthe exception of the rolls Hi: and Nb, 22a and 22b, and 24a and 24!),each of the several pairs of rolls includes a small roll designated bythe suffix 11" and a large roll designated by the suflix b. The rolls laand lib are both small rolls and both rolls of the pairs 22a and 22b and24a and 241) are large rolls. All the small rolls and all the largerolls are of similar construction.

In addition to the rolls already mentioned, hollow rolls 25 and 23 arejournaled in the housings and cooperate with fixed brushes 25a and 26a.Rotary brushes 21a and 2'") also engag the material. The rolls 25'and 26and the brushes 21a and 21b are driven in the same manner as the otherrolls.

The housings l0 and l I have windows 28 spaced therealong adapted toreceive bearings in which the rolls are journaled. Bridge pieces 29extend across the windows and are secured to the housings by anysuitable means. Rolladjusting screws 30 each having a locknut 3| arethreaded Figures 2 and 3 clearly show the manner in which the rolls arejournaled in the housings. Each roll has bearing boxes 32 and 33thereon. The bearing boxes are adapted for vertical sliding movementinthe windows but are confined against lateral movement in the housings.The bearing boxes of the lower rolls rest on the bottoms of the windows.Springs 34 are disposed between the screws 30 and the bearing boxes ofthe upper rolls. Springs 35 are disposed between the bearing boxes ofthe rolls of each pair.

The branner is provided with a hopper bottom 36 adapted to collect branor other similar material delivered onto the sheet metal. Side plates36a spaced inwardly of the housings l0 and II extend upwardly from theupper portion of, the hopper bottom substantially to the upper edges ofthe housings, to confine the bran delivered onto the sheet metal. Ascrew conveyor 31 journaled in the housings delivers the bran collectingin the hopper bottom to an elevator (not shown) which returns it to thebran-feeding mechanism which will be described shortly. A horizontalplate 38 mounted beneath the rolls adjacent the entering end of themachine has spaced slots and a movable plate 39 similarly slotteddisposed thereon. The movable plate is connected by links 40 to crankarms 4| on a shaft '42 which extends transversely through the housings.The rate of flow of bran to the return conveyor 31 may thus becontrolled. A paddle wheel 43 journaled in the housings delivers to theconveyor 31 any bran falling into the hopper bottom adjacent thedischarge end of the machine.

The bran delivered to the elevator by the conveyor 31 is raised anddischarged into a feed-in screw conveyor 44 extending transversely ofthe machine adjacent the entering end. From the feed-in conveyor, branis discharged through the longitudinal opening therein into adistributing conveyor 45. The latter delivers the bran directly onto thesheet metal as it passesbetween the several pairs of rolls.

Figures 4 and 5 illustrate the construction of the rolls (except thehollow rolls 25 and 26) Each roll comprises a shaft 46 having journalsthereon goo -18o adapted to accommodate bearings 41. The central portionof the shaft designated 48 is of square or other non-circular shape. Acollar 49 is secured on the shaft adjacent one end of the square portion48 thereof as by a ,weld 50. Circular fabric discs ll suitably punchedare placed on the shaft against the collar 43. When a sufllclent numberof discs have been applied or packed," a removable collar 52 is appliedto the other end of the shaft and secured in place thereon by a splitring 53 which snaps into a groove 54. It will be understood that therolls are packed before the bearings and other associated parts areplaced on the shaft. Oil-throwing discs 55 are placed on the shaftbetween the collars and the bearings. One end of the shaft is providedwith a driving connection 56 which is part of a universal joint in thedriving spindle.

The large and small rolls are of similar const'ruction, the onlydifference being that the fabric discs of the small rolls are of feltwhile the discs of the large rolls are of cloth such asCanton flannel.For this reason the small rolls are harder than the large rolls. Some.of the large rolls are packed from one end and the remainder from theother. That is, the collars 49 which form fixed abutments supporting thecloth discs are disposed at the end of the shaft 46 remote from thedriving end, in the case of some of the soft rolls whereas in theremainder of the soft rolls, the positions of collars 49 and 52 arereversed and the cloth discs applied from the end of the shaft remotefrom the driving end, instead of from the driving end as shown in Figure4.

: The shafts for all rolls may be the same except that the groove 54 ispositioned adjacent the driving end of some of the rolls as shown inFigure 4 and adjacent the other end of the remaining rolls. Preferablyone half the soft rolls are packed from one end and half from the otherend. It is also advantageous that the soft rolls of adjacent pairs bereversely packed. For example, the roll lBb 'might be packed from thedriving end as shown in Figure 4, roll llb from the other end, roll l8bfrom the driving end, and

so on. The rolls 22a and 22b-are likewise preferably reversely packed asshown in Figure 3. This is also preferably true of the rolls 2% and 24b.

The reverse packing of the soft rolls as above described provides asimple and complete remedy for the problem of sidewise drift of sheetsfed through the machine. When the soft rolls are reversely packed, thesheets feed straight through the machine, precisely parallel to thecenter line, with no measurable drift in either direction. It ishelpful, in securing this result, if the small rolls are packed quitetightly so that they present a rather hard surface. The operation of theapparatus is similar to that of branners previously known, the sheetmetal being subjected to repeated wipings by the several pairs of rolls,in the presence of bran or other similar material which removes any oilfrom the sheets and produces a high polish on the surface thereof.

Although I have illustrated and described but a preferred embodiment ofthe invention, it will be recognized that changes in the details ofconstruction and arrangement of the parts may be made without departingfrom the spirit of the invention or the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In an apparatus for polishing coated sheets, a plurality of pairs ofrolls between which the sheets pass, said rolls being composed of a mandrel or shaft and fabric disc packed thereon against an abutment fixedto the mandrel adjacent one end, one roll of each of certain of saidpairs having its discs packed from one side of the apparatus and oneroll of each of the remaining pairs having its discs packed from theother side of the apparatus.

2. In an apparatus for polishing coated sheets, a plurality of pairs ofrolls between which the sheets pass, each pair including rolls ofdifferent diameters said rolls being composed of a mandrel or shaft anda plurality of fabric discs packed thereon against a fixed abutmentadjacent one end, the discs of some of the larger rollsof each pairbeing packed from one side of the apparatus and the discs of theremaining larger rolls being packed from the other side of theapparatus.

3. In an apparatus for polishing coated sheets, a plurality of pairs ofrolls between which the sheets pass, each pair including rolls ofdifferent hardness, said rolls being composed of a mandrel or shaft anda plurality of fabric discs packed thereon against a fixed abutment, thediscs of some of the softer rolls being packed from one side of theapparatus and the discs of the remaining softer rolls being packed fromthe other side of the apparatus.

4. In an apparatus for polishing coated sheets, a plurality of pairs ofrolls between which the sheets pass, said rolls being composed of amandrel or shaft and fabric discs packed thereon against an abutmentfixed to the mandrel adjacent one end, the rolls of each pair being ofdiiferent diameters and hardness, the larger rolls of each pair beingthe softer, and certain of the larger, softer rolls having their discspacked from one side of the apparatus and the remainder of the larger,softer rolls having their discs packed from the other side of theapparatus.

5. In an apparatus for polishing coated sheets, a plurality of pairs ofrolls between which the sheets pass, said rolls being composed of a mandrel or shaft and fabric discs packed thereon against an abutment fixedto the mandrel ad-' jacent one end, the rolls of each pair being ofdifferent diameters and hardness, the larger rolls of each pair beingthe softer, and the larger, softer rolls of alternate pairs having theirdiscs packed from one side of the apparatus and the remainder of thelarger, softer rolls having their discs packed from the other side ofthe apparatus.

DONALD A. MCARTHUR.

